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Que's To Reopen

NEW BREMEN — A business displaced by a fire that swept through a downtown New Bremen building has relocated and will reopen next week.

Que’s Barber Shop, which was housed in the same building as Fireside Pub, will reopen March 15 at 201 N. Main St., New Bremen. The barbershop, along with the restaurant, sustained severe damage during a fire on Feb. 27 that saw flames shoot through the top of the building.

“During the past week and a half I’ve been looking for a new location,” owner Keith Quellhorst told The Evening Leader. “The village of New Bremen has been nice enough to let me rent one of their buildings while I look for another location. I may be there for the next year.”

In between dealing with insurance companies and getting new equipment, Quellhorst has been busy preparing his new shop. While he was able to salvage three barber chairs, the furniture has to be refurbished before it can be used.

“They are being redone so there is no smoke and water damage in them,” Quellhorst said. “I didn’t keep anything else because of sanitary reasons. Anything that would touch a person I didn’t keep.”

Quellhorst also recalled the sight of watching his shop, which he dreamed about opening since he was a teen, go up in flames.

“That was a nightmare, but you sit back and look back on it and no one was hurt and no one was in there — it was just material things that got ruined,” Quellhorst said. “I was lucky enough that I didn’t have any family heirlooms or albums in there, just things that could be replaced with a phone call to a barber supply store. At the time it was devastating, but in hindsight, it’s not as bad as it seems. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not fun, but at least no one was hurt. Now, it’s just a matter of restarting and changing locations.”

In the wake of the fire, Quellhorst has been hit with an outpouring of support from the public. Quellhorst said village officials as well as the public have helped make his transition smooth.

“They’ve worked with me so much, I contact them on a daily basis,” Quellhorst said of village officials.

“Remax and Crown have been looking for new places and still are looking for me. Family and friends have come through to offer either a kind word or to help me set up the shop. It’s just been tremendous. It’s great and I’m blessed to be in a town that cares about the small businesses here.”

Quellhorst also thanked the firefighters who fought to contain the blaze that took his shop.

“I really want to thank the fire departments that helped,” Quellhorst said. “I know they risked their lives just being out there. I really want to thank them for all they did to stop the fire from spreading.”